A Fair Trade
by thistlesherastiliin
Summary: This Chapter continues combining the Thisle and Sherastiliin Legacy characaters in SWTOR. Shaydia, Imperial Agent has past connections with Malavai Quinn, companion to Nik'khe Thistle. Also, Kaliyo, companion to Shaydia and Nik'khe, Sith Warrior and sister to Andronikos (Drew) Revel, get up to a bit of mischief on Alderaan that is sure to stir up trouble.


_My friend and I wanted to make it so our SW:TOR legacies were in the same universe. We both love the companions so much that this was causing us some trouble. This story continues combining the legacies and introduces connections between the Imperial Agent and Malavai Quinn.  
_

_Cast of Characters:_

_Shaydia-Human, Imperial Agent and Kaliyo IA Companion  
_

_Nik'khe-Sith Pureblood/Human, Sith Warrior, daughter of Andronikos Revel and A'iofe, Sith Inquisitor, and Malavai Quinn, SW Companion  
_

Nik rubbed her shoulder and rested her head back against a wall while Quinn bandaged. "Where has that blasted agent gotten off to…this is where we were to meet isn't it Quinn?"

"Yes my lord. But we are a bit early. You took less time with the Lady Renata than you anticipated."

"Right, that, about that, I have no problem with your advice, but in my judgment accommodating Duke Kendoh in his schemes would be no service to the Empire. Ultimately the only real source of the information was the Lady and the information was much more easily retrieved aiding her."

oOo

"Do we really need to have this discussion again, Kaliyo?" Shaydia gave the Rattataki woman a hard look, "I get it. You need to blow off steam. But that cannot involve bar brawls and seducing young Alderaanian nobles. I have a job to do and I will be unable to complete it if I get kicked off Alderaan because you can't follow simple instructions."

"You really need to loosen up, agent. Next time there's a chance for some fun, you should definitely come along."

"Are you listening to me at all? You're going to get us banned from the _planet_ if you don't stop!"

Kaliyo rolled her eyes, "You're being a little over-dramatic. No one's going to kick us off Alderaan. I may get banned from the Thul estate, but they'll still let you in."

Catching sight of a mess of blond hair, accompanied by a dark red mohawk, Shaydia realized that Kaliyo's actions had made them late to their rendezvous with Nik'khe and Quinn.

Nik lifted her arm and waved as Shay and Kaliyo approached. She chuckled seeing Shay's face wondering what Kaliyo had gotten into. Maybe she ought to see if Shay would babysit Quinn while she and Kaliyo went cantina hopping tonight.

Pretty as Quinn was, he had some amazing self-control and she didn't much feel like toying with him tonight when the result was likely going to be a flush on his skin, some obvious signs of attraction, and his obstinate ability to ignore that and go to sleep.

She looked speculatively at Quinn punching on his datapad engrossed in a new project and contemplated the problem. She wasn't going to give up of course, anyone that difficult to crack clearly was hiding some serious passion under that calm exterior but a break might give her some better ideas to try.

"Sorry we're late," Shaydia managed to keep her voice light, "Kaliyo decided 'stay out of trouble' meant 'go seduce the kids of some nobleman, get them all embroiled in a scandal, and then start a fight in a cantina'. I'm not sure where the breakdown in communication there occurred. Fortunately, a local diplomat stepped in and we have not yet been actively removed from the planet."

"Everyone's making such a big deal about this," Kaliyo scoffed, "You'd think we did something illegal."

Shaydia glared at her, "The girl had _spice_ in her system, Kaliyo. You DID do something illegal. And if she ends up pregnant…"

"Hey, don't look at me. That won't be my fault."

"No, you just…Never mind, it's a hideous situation you've put them all in."

"Hey, I did not know they were related. They look nothing alike."

"I'm done discussing this with you," she turned back to the highly amused Sith and the scandalized Imperial next to her, "So, how have you two been?"

"Oh, quite fine thank you Shay. Just discussing the finer points of why helping worthless allies on backwater planets that think women are cattle isn't always 'good for the Empire'," Nik looked pointedly at Quinn.

Whatever he was doing on his datapad had him thoroughly engrossed and he didn't even twitch while she was venting to Shay.

With a low growl she flipped the datapad out of Quinn's hand. "You know I'd insult you less if you actually responded. Instead you give me all these stupid suggestions while I am working, and ignore when I am actually talking to you!"

Shaydia covered her mouth to hide the giggle that threatened when she saw the man's shocked look as the datapad went flying. "M-my lord!" he stammered a weak protest.

Gah! Nik stomped over to Shaydia. "I'll trade you Quinn for Kaliyo. I'm sure he'd fit right in with Intelligence."

Bending and picking up the datapad Quinn flushed and stammered again. "My lord…"

Nik bit her lip and her eyes flared. She took a breath, flipped around, and drew both blasters firing a precise shot that sent the datapad flying from his hand and then turning it to powder in the air.

After flipping the guns forward and back against her palms she holstered them and let out a breath. "One word. Just one. And the next thing that is powder is you Quinn." She turned back to Shaydia. "Where were we going again?"

Shaydia's gaze went to Quinn who seemed to be contemplating at what point he could safely pull out his back up datapad. He'd always been that way. Very single-minded. Almost to the point of idiocy. It made him a brilliant military man. Superiors loved underlings who could stay on task regardless of the distraction. But his interpersonal skills had always been somewhat lacking.

She wondered if he would remember her. If he remembered the long-limbed adolescent who skulked at one end of the table when he came for dinner and to hammer out more details of the betrothal to her foster sister, Sarna. She suspected he wouldn't. The betrothal had been cancelled when something had happened to almost end his career, and she was fairly certain his well-trained mind would have banished all memories associated with a failure of that magnitude.

Shaking away the memories she focused her attention on Nik whose eyes held a spark of impatience with her delay in answering, "I apologize. Kaliyo's behavior last night and this morning has been something of a distraction. To be honest we are between jobs right now and I am more than willing to hand Kaliyo over to someone who can take her down a notch if need be."

A slow lazy grin slid across Nik's face. "Would you like to see how many Organa cantinas we can break Kaliyo?" She turned to Shay, "Meet you and Quinn back at Thul estate this evening? You have lodgings there also?"

Shaydia watched the two women leave, hoping that this wasn't going to end with the planet's destruction or something equally unlikely but just as catastrophic. Pasting a smile on she turned to Quinn, "Well, I guess that makes you my date for the day."

His eyes shot from her to Nik'khe's retreating form, a look of panic rising in his eyes. It didn't show on his face of course. "I suppose it does," he replied.

Shaydia sighed, "Come on then, its past midday. You can buy me lunch. Assuming of course your Sith gives you pocket-money."

Quinn stiffened indignantly at the insinuation, "I have money."

"Good," she linked her arm through his and dragged him to the nearest cantina, "Because I'm starving."

Throughout the meal, Quinn kept glancing at her, starting to speak, and then hastily shoving more food into his open mouth. He did this several times in a row to the point where he could barely chew everything he'd stuffed in there.

Finally, Shaydia took pity on him, "What is it?"

"Nothing, I," he paused, "I just keep thinking you look familiar for some reason. But I haven't known anyone who has gone into Intelligence, so you can't be."

Now it was Shaydia's turn to pick at her food. He was bright enough to figure out that her full name had to be kept under wraps, so she wasn't terribly concerned if he realized who she was and why he knew her. Additionally, telling him might prevent recognition from striking at an inopportune time when it would increase the likelihood of an indiscreet remark. "It's been a long time, and I was much younger. I'm not surprised you don't recognize me."

"We have met then?" he sounded partly surprised, but mostly his tone indicated he had little doubt he was right.

"We have. On Dromund Kaas. It's been several years now though, at least a decade," she saw him flinch as his mind went back to a time in his life he had preferred to forget.

He was putting the pieces together though. She'd never known anyone who could put a puzzle together as fast as Quinn could. His eyes narrowed, "You're Sarna's sister, aren't you?"

"Foster sister. And yes, I am, or was. They want nothing to do with me and I can't say I feel any more affection towards them."

Quinn was staring at her in amazement, "I never would have guessed that scrawny little scraped up girl would grow up so well."

Shaydia laughed, "Yes, well, time changes us all." They settled into a companionable silence, broken now and again by a light remark. As they finished the meal, Shaydia leaned over towards Quinn, "Can I give you some advice?"

He looked at her warily, "I suppose."

"Stand up to her every once in a while. Not outright defiance," she said when she saw the objections rising in his eyes, "Just, stand up for yourself. She doesn't like it much when you let her walk all over you like you do."

"As an Imperial citizen I am bound to respect the will of our Sith overlords."

"Don't feed me that crap, Quinn. I'm not telling you to go against her wishes. I'm telling you to pay more attention to what she is really saying. She spouts off a lot of nonsense just to see if you're listening to her. Call her on it every so often. She can certainly handle it. And if you pay closer attention you'll have a better idea when you need to back off and leave her be."

"I am doing my duty…" he protested weakly.

"Quinn," Shaydia looked him straight in the eye, "She doesn't want you doing your 'duty', she wants you in her bed, and the more you protest and fight it, the more she wants you there. So, if your goal is to push her past what she's willing to stand, you're going the right way. Otherwise, you need to relax a bit."

"First you tell me to stand up for myself, now you're telling me to give in to her. Which is it?" his voice was testy.

Shaydia laughed, "A little of both. I'm only telling you to give in because it's so obvious you want to. And there's nothing wrong with letting her have the 'triumph' of breaking your self-control if it's something you want to let her have."

"I'll take it under advisement though I believe you are mistaken as she is currently…involved with another."

"Quinn. What do you think she and Kaliyo are going to get up to? I can tell you now, Kaliyo has no morals, and no boundaries she won't cross. I honestly think she and Nik'khe are terribly alike. We probably should not have loosed them on the unsuspecting nobles of Alderaan."

"I suppose you're right."

"Just think about it? You're driving her crazy and it's turning into a not in a good way kind of crazy. If I can pick it up in the short time I've known you two, it's going to come to a head soon."

oOo

About dusk, Nik and Kaliyo wandered back to Thul estate, bloody, bruised and disheveled. Nik had her arm tossed around Kaliyo's shoulder and both faces held very satisfied smiles.

Turning as they reached their companions Nik gave Kaliyo a slow and lazy kiss trailing her fingertips down her cheek. "You are utterly amazing. And I'm exhausted, I'm collecting my boring Imperial and heading to bed." She smiled at Shay, "I imagine the Thuls will be less irritated now. I'm sure embarrassing the Organas this badly will take off a few black marks."

Shaydia heard Quinn curse under his breath when he saw how battered the two of them were. The smiles however, along with Nik's words, told her that all of her suspicions were correct and somewhere there were some highly scandalized Alderaanians.

Once Quinn and Nik'khe were gone, Shaydia turned to her very satisfied looking Rattataki companion, "Dare I ask?"

"Like Nik said, we stuck with embarrassing the Organas. The Thuls should be pleased," they reached their room and Kaliyo flopped on the bed, "That girl is something else. We need to do that more often."

oOo

When she and Quinn got to their room Nik showered and stumbled over to bed. "I could use some kolto if you can pull your head out of that datapad Quinn." Nik flopped on the bed while Quinn grabbed kolto gel murmuring under his breath that a kolto bath would probably work better.

Screwing up his courage he looked the Sith in the eye. "Is there somewhere you aren't cut, bruised or burnt my lord?"

Nik grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Ooh if I weren't so tired I'd give you a kiss for finding your backbone." She plopped her head back and closed her eyes, "and the answer is I have no idea, lost track after a while." A slight grin played on her face. "Stars that woman is amazing."

Quinn shook his head. "Do you really think that was a good idea…my l…" He hesitated for a moment and then continued "…Nik'khe…?"

Nik's eyes flashed open and a wide grin split her face. "It's Nik…my friends call me Nik." She snaked out her arm and snagged his arm and pulled him down next to her.

Pulling herself up on one elbow and catching his chin so she could direct his eyes into hers, she scanned them. Yes, he was willing to hold his ground and actually challenge her. Her eyes warmed, lightly amused while her eyebrows lifted slightly.

"You honestly want an answer to that question? Or have you found a sense of humor in there too along with your backbone?"

Quinn's eyes flashed briefly in irritation. Nik noted he suppressed it pretty quickly, but she'd definitely managed to get a reaction at least.

Biting her lower lip she looked at him with a tiny smile. "No…it wasn't a particularly good idea. It was however a gloriously **fun** idea. I'll deal with any repercussions as they come. It was worth it."

She settled back against the pillows. "I'm going to sleep now. A man pillow would be nice, but not required. I'll live if you want to fiddle with your data pad some more, up to you…"a small twinkling smile lit her face "…Malavai."

Quinn looked thoughtful and reached out to pull her against him, feeling her relax softly against his chest and drop off to sleep. Inclining his head against the top of hers, he allowed himself to trace his fingertips down her back and over her hips before he settled, one arm holding her lightly to him, with the other resting on her hip while he fell asleep.


End file.
